Hack
Petra Johanna
The Syrian Refugee Crisis
By the
end of 2014 the number of the Syrian refugees had surpassed the number of other
refugees in Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan. Living conditions are poor, and the
mass exodus from the region continues as the radical Islamist terrorist
organisation ISIS continues its surge through the region, carrying destruction
and death in it’s tail. The purpose of this essay is to briefly explore the
events which led to the current crisis, as well as the most important factors contributing
to the creation of the current situation.
In
2011 mass demonstrations in many Middle-Eastern countries resulted in the Arab
Spring; anti-government demonstrations also began in Syria in March.
Unfortunately, the peaceful protests quickly escalated after the government’s
violent crackdown, and people who are now labelled rebels felt it necessary to fight
back against the regime. The first refugees, mostly women and children, fled
the fighting in the town of Talkalakh in May. Initially the main target of the
refugees was democratic Turkey, and by the end of 2011, Turkey had spent up to $15 million to
set up six camps for thousands of refugees and military defectors. The Turkish
authorities had repeatedly expressed perspective on the refugees to the media,
pressing their point to call them ”guests not refugees”. As a result of their
proactive role in providing for the refugees, Turkish-Syrian diplomatic
relations continue to deteriorate, and has reached a historical low-point
between the two countries.
With
the spread of the rebel fighting throughout the country, most Syrians with
Kurdish origin had fled to the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. This led to
the foundation of the Domiz refugee camp in April, 2012, which quickly became
the largest Syrian refugee camp. On July 18, 2012, a bomb exploded in Damascus,
killing Assad’s brother-in-law and other high-ranking security officials.
Anywhere from 18,000 to 40,000 refugees crossed the Masnaa border post into
Lebanon over the next few days, probably in fear of the inevitable retaliation.
To alleviate the pressure on the Jordanian cities, the UNHCR opened up the
Za’atari camp in the desert of northern Jordan in July 29, 2012, which could eventually
host up to 113,000 refugees. In January of 2013, the worst storms in a decade
affected the Syrian refugees in the neighbouring countries, especially in
Lebanon. The shelters and temporary housing facilities were not efficiently
prepared for the cold weather conditions, and funding was not sufficient to fulfil
the clothing needs appropriately. In August, 2013 almost 20,000 people cross
over to Kurdistan over a few days. The number of Syrian refugees in March, 2013
was 1 million, by September 1, 2013 this number reached 2 million. A string of
bombings in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut was seen as proof that the conflict had
spread across the border. By the end of 2013, nearly 100 Lebanese have died in
bombings in Tripoli and Beirut.
Between
January 2013, and March 2014, UNICEF launched the #ChildrenofSyria campaign to
raise awareness about the plight of Syrian refugee children on social media
platforms. By end-2013, half of the 2 million refugees who have fled the
country were children. In February 25, 2014 UNICEF posted on its Twitter page
that 10,000 Syrian children are suffering from malnutrition. A month later they
released a report on the 5.5 million children living in Syria and in
neighbouring countries who are displaced. According to their account 1.2
million children were living in host countries by early 2014, and 37,000
refugee children were born since the conflict began. Malnutrition, lack of
education, poor healthcare and emotional distress were just a few of many
factors that were creating a “lost generation”.
In
June, 2014 ISIL took control of the Iraqi city of Mosul which marks the
beginning of a new refugee crisis in the Middle-East. Upon entering Syria, ISIL
renamed itself to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and announced the
establishment of a “Caliphate” in these countries. According to the UN, an
estimated 1.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes as a result. ISIS fighters
began attacking Kurdish villages along the Syrian-Turkish border, forcing
130,000 Syrian Kurds to leave their homes in late September. In the following
month, they besieged the Turkish border city of Kobani, which lead to almost
400,000 Kurds fleeing the city and the region. These refugees attested to the
media about the execution of innocent civilians. The main targets of the Islamic
terrorists were the religious minorities, with a heritage of more than a
thousand years in the region. These minorities included primarily Christians,
but also the Shabak, Yazidis and Turkmen. During the creation of this essay
reports appear in the media, about ISIS raiding the third ancient city
in a week, the 2,800-year-old capital of the Assyrian empire, Khorsabad. Their
earlier assaults were on other UNESCO World Heritage Sites Nimrud and Hatra,
demolishing the latter, a 2,000-year-old desert fortress which had managed to
stay preserved through two Roman invasions. Public beheadings of Christians and
other non-Muslim individuals regularly appear on the Internet, as ISIS makes it
their mission to publicise their acts. Their purpose is the actualisation of Jihad,
and their main goal is to make every country on Earth Muslim. As a result of
their activities more and more Western Muslims (especially second generation
immigrants) are becoming radicalised, and due to their difficulties with
assimilation and disillusionment with the European culture, hundreds of them are
leaving European countries to fight for ISIS. Unfortunately for the peaceful
citizens of the EU, there are no policies that would prevent these people from
returning to their countries of origin, even though it is proven that the test
that makes an individual a soldier of ISIS requires the candidates to kill an
innocent person, to prove that they are committed to the cause.
Just
in 2014 76,000 people died in the conflicts, which is part of the estimated
total of 200,000 deaths. A total of 6.5 million people are displaced from their
homes, though they remain within Syria’s borders. The estimated 3.8 million
refugees are being hosted in five main countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq
and Egypt. Despite the great need, only 1.7% of this number had been offered a
place in a Western country. EU member states have offered over 36,300
resettlement places so far, with Germany offering the majority, at over 30,000
places.
I
believe this is one of the most urgent and pressing issues of our time, which
already affects the Western world, but is often disregarded and met with ignorance,
naivety and denial by the general public. It is very discouraging to see the
lack of response to the human suffering that is happening before our eyes, and
the general dismissal of the threat that radical Islam poses to Europe, out of
the fear of not being politically correct. This essay was composed with the
commitment to fight against ignorance about this issue.
